Un amigo peruano

It feels like I am at the bottom of the ocean, and there is no sound, only vibrations and light. I have my earplugs in again. This makes three nights in a row, but when the music next door sounds like a festival in the house, I want to sleep! Today was a bit of a brain drain. Yesterday, too, I spent the whole day speaking and listening and studying Spanish. It can be a bit overwhelming on the brain. I didn’t have internet, so no reading or e-mailing in English. Phew! Well today was more of the same, though a very special afternoon break came my way just when I thought it wouldn’t. The sun was so bright this morning that I changed out of my boots and socks and took off my extra layers. I wore a short sleeve shirt, my skirt, and my chacos. I was excited! The way to school was warm and bright, but by mid-morning break, the clouds rolled in, and my world cooled off. Thank goodness for lots of hot tea! I stopped at the history museum in town – so small, but my favorite religious art in town! I don’t think I could have avoided it, but the rain came. It rained very lightly, but again, the chill in the air had me walking really fast for the house. I made it in time for lunch and some conversation with the Irish guys. They don’t speak any Spanish – or didn’t when the arrived. I have been interpreting for Gloria at all our meals. They’re quite nice, but I can tell that it is difficult for them – adjusting to the altitude and culture and food and language. I decided to try my computer here if it was going to rain, instead of carrying all the way to school. No luck – no signal! As I shut down the computer, the phone rang…for me. Mi novio! Erik and I talked and caught up. I got a bit sentimental and teary-eyed. I keep thinking about what I am doing here and why I had to go so far away. To be fair, I had planned all this very roughly last Spring before I met Erik. I wanted to follow my dream and my plans like the determined woman I am, despite having met this amazing guy that I want to be around. I think I needed to prove to me I could do this, as well as feel like I woke in the dream I had over a decade ago. So now I am far from my family and friends, and I miss you! I do appreciate hearing about what is happening in Denver. I can’t imagine the chaos of baseball fever in Denver. I am using it for my homework tomorrow – current events in our home countries. Anyway, my day also included a bit of “stranger danger” – not really dangerous, but I had e-mailed a Cusqenian (?) friend of a friend. Art had come to Peru in June and offered a couple contacts. Willaru is a shaman/teacher/guide. Art said he thought he was in his fifties, and this was all I had to go by as I waited in the plaza for him today. We had arranged a time and place to meet via e-mail. I arrived a few minutes late and he arrived even later. Of course I was wondering if I had missed him, if the description in Spanish I sent him was really correct, if I was in the right place, and so on. But he found me. We ended up going back to his house, something most people I’ve met here would advise me not to do, but I had faith that Art knew him well enough. We took a taxi out of the city and onto a rocky road. But the door he opened to his home revealed a warm spacious retreat from the city. It was beautiful. We talked about everything you can imagine – politics, history, philosophy, professions and pasts, travel, spirituality, and religion. As a shaman, he has much to teach, and I appreciated the privilege to listen. Even more incredible is that for nearly four hours we talked, almost entirely in Spanish. I don’t know if my teachers will count that as practice, but I will find out tomorrow. I felt a sense of wellness and peace and energy all night. I didn’t want it to end. His wife was really quite animated, too, and had a lot to say about life there and the conditions of the indigenous populations. Their children Rafael and Veronica said hello, but I think they had homework. It was great. Willaru hoped we could see each other again before I leave for Argentina, but I am not sure if it will work. When Erik comes, we will for sure get together again. A lovely evening of warmth and hospitality…and now I am cold again. I have to say I figured out a way to warm my feet. The water is kept hot in a thermos on the counter, so I fill my nalgene and stick it in the foot of my bed. It is very clever, I think. A modern-day hot water bottle. Speaking of, it is time to go fill it. Love and peace, tori